July 29 to August 5, 2005 Volume 12, Issue 29 - The Bonaire Reporter

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A SMALL NGO on Bonaire Makes a Big Difference T o lose one’s vision is terrible; it can also be very lonely. “Friends desert me . . . I cry all night . . . so sad to be blind,” were some of the thoughts of Nemencio Winklaar, the talented Bonaire musician who became blind at age 42. He was one of the first beneficiaries of the Bonaire Foundation for the Blind. Mr. Winklaar passed away, but he is remembered as a gifted singer and guitar player in Rincon who felt the sting of blindness. What is the Foundation? The Foundation, Fundashon Bonairiano pa Siegunan, has assisted Bonaireans with vision impairments and blindness for almost 30 years. Currently it serves nine adults, and the Foundation Page 6 Activities of AMFO and the NGO Platform “Friends desert me . . . I cry all night . . . so sad to be blind” Nemencio Winklaar is conducting a survey to find others who need their help. “We believe there are over 40 people on the island with low vision or total blindness,” says Roxanne Timp, secretary of the Foundation and one of its four volunteers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “low vision” refers to “visual impairment that cannot be corrected with medical treatments, glasses or contact lenses, and which reduces an individual’s ability to carry out important life activities including obtaining an education, living and traveling independently, being employed, and enjoying and seeing visual images.” Helping and Learning Bonaire’s volunteers want to provide more counseling, care and tools to help their clients lead independent lives. People who have trouble seeing need to do all the daily activities that sighted people do and take for granted. They must know how to measure ingredients for cooking, identify money denominations, shop, do banking, read and write with magnifiers or with Barbara Bianculli photo Braille, keep up with the news, clean, garden, recognize food stuffs in cans and boxes, match clothes to wear, identify correct medicines, use clocks, phones, TVs, radios, use large fonts on a computer, rearrange their homes to accommodate their decreasing vision, navigate around the house or neighborhood safely, and especially how to continue to do what they enjoy. A while back a blind man from Bonaire went to Curaçao to learn Braille and to learn how to walk with a cane. “I’d like to be able to offer that training here on Bonaire, too,” says Louise Coffi Green, a volunteer for almost 28 years. That will begin to happen, when in November, Elka Coffi, Foundation president and volunteer, will receive training to work with people who have Bonaire Foundation for the Blind volunteers, (left to right) Roxanne Timp, Louise Coffi Green, Elka Coffi low vision, blindness and other disabilities. Louise adds, “We’d like to learn more about causes, prevention, and treatment of vision problems. Then we can help our members understand their doctor’s visits, and perhaps we can help identify vision problems earlier, even in children, so they can be treated.” Parents shouldn’t wait until children are reading or staring at computers all day to get their eyes checked. Every year spent straining to see out of one good eye can further compromise vision in the other eye. Networking with Foundations on Other Islands Thanks to funding from AMFO, Louise, Roxanne, and past president Harlton Emerenciana were able to par- (Continued on page 7) Bonaire Reporter - July 29 to August 5, 2005
Small NGO makes...(Continued from page 6) ticipate in meetings with the foundations in Curaçao and Aruba in May. “We want to improve our knowledge so we can offer better services to the people of Bonaire. We don’t want them to have to travel to Holland, Curaçao, or Aruba. One family moved from Bonaire in order to receive care for their children,” says Roxanne. Louise adds, “At one meeting, we had the pleasure of meeting a man named Gino who thanked the volunteers in Aruba. He started to lose his sight when he was six years old due to renitis pigmentosa. At first, eyeglasses helped him, but his condition was one that couldn’t be cured. His vision deteriorated, and by age 16 he had lost most of his sight. He became depressed and did not want to continue his education. But with the help of Aruba’s Foundation for the Blind, he received counseling and textbooks on CDs to help him finish school. He then entered the University of Aruba and studied law. He has just graduated and started a job in the legal field. He appreciates the help that the foundation gave him and is proud that he can function as an independent member of society. He even built his own house with the help of his friends and lives there with his eight-year-old daughter.” The Foundation for the Blind makes a big difference. Employable? Unfortunately, less than half of the people with blindness or low vision ever become employed. Most do not receive the rehabilitation necessary to help them enter the work force or do not find an employer who is free of the prejudiced stereotype of the “helpless blind.” Very few visually handicapped people find jobs as Jim Dunbar did in the ABC midseason drama “Blind Justice.” Jim portrayed a police detective who proves Bonaire Reporter - July 29 to August 5, 2005 that the disabled can lead independent and productive lives. In real life, there are NASA scientists, chefs, doctors, investment bankers, federal judges, state representatives, biologists, physical therapists and artists with vision loss, who are known not for their disability but for their accomplishments. Helping the visually impaired overcome this stereotype is one of the jobs the Foundation of the Blind is doing. With the help of a social worker, a seamstress who had become blind received the tools and training she needed to get a job sewing again. Another person blinded in an accident secured a job with Curacao’s Foundation for the Blind. Social Activities One morning a week for most of the year, Bonaire’s Foundation for the Blind uses its small bus and two volunteer drivers to take the “members,” people with low vision, to a central meeting place in Tera Cora where they can socialize and sometimes play Bingo. This organization may be small, but its impact is huge. “The members are so happy when it’s Wednesday and they can get together,” smiles Louise, who also visits them at their homes when she passes by. “And, of course, they phone and support one another. Sometimes we tour parts of the island, and they especially enjoy visiting the large cruise ships in port. During the early part of the month, when the pensions arrive, they have a little money to spend so we take them shopping. The volunteers help them to find their purchases. At Christmas we enjoy a special dinner together. We would like to have a place to gather more often than once a week,” adds Louise, “but we must find a building first. We hope the Bonaire Platform and AMFO can help us with that.” What do they Need? A place of their own would also be where they could store their supplies which are now scattered in various homes. “We’re lucky to have some Braille and large print books that were donated to us by Goede Doelen, a charity foundation in Holland. It happened because a lady from Holland was diving here with Andre Nahr. She has three children with renitis pigmentosa and wanted to help people with vision problems on Bonaire. Andre told her, ‘See Roxanne at MCB!’ So this year we will receive more books from Holland!” smiles Roxanne. Those of us with good vision take for granted what we are able to see. “At one meeting, we had our eyes covered to experience being blind,” remembers volunteer Roxanne. “We had to walk, recognize different foods, and pour water into cups! It was difficult!” The blind CONTACT INFORMATION musician, Stevie Wonder, knows the difficulties personally. One of his recent music videos is artistically described orally so people with vision loss can experience the visual images while hearing the music. How else might we help the visually impaired? Technology offers wonderful assistance to people with low vision. There are walking canes that either vibrate or issue tones when approaching an obstacle, talking barcode readers to help identify items in the house or store or even to identify the color of clothing material, talking bank cash machines, video magnifiers, a handheld talking GPS system, and talking lampposts in London that give directions. Also, Wal-Mart is testing a robot that leads a shopper to desired products by reading tags on aisles and shelves! Will all this technology be needed on Bonaire? Perhaps not, but it shows that businesses are thinking about the people with low vision. Are we? The Bonaire Foundation for the Blind is! You can help them with donations or services. Do you know someone with deteriorating vision who needs the help of the Bonaire Foundation for the Blind? Call Louise Coffi Green at 717-8171. Barbara Mason Bianculli AMFO: Kaya Gob. N. Debrot #31, Bonaire. Tel. 717-7776, Fax 717-7779, website: www.samfo.org, email: info-bon@samfo.org NGO Platforma Bonaire: Kaya Korona 5-C. -Tel. 717-2366, Fax 7172367, website: www.ngobonaire.org, email: Platform@ngobonaire.org Page 7
Page 1 and 2: Mik Smit Photo July 29 to August 5,
Page 3 and 4: Bonaire Reporter - July 29 to Augus
Page 5: OPINIONS and LETTERS: THE Op-Ed PAG
Page 9 and 10: JePoBon - Bonaire’s Puppet Theatr
Page 11 and 12: Frogfish (Continued from page 10) H
Page 13 and 14: M ik Smit, who heads the Stitching
Page 15 and 16: Late Show Call to make sure (Usuall
Page 17 and 18: Indira Tibisay Dugarte de Castro
Page 19: The Three Bright Stars of the Summe

July 29 to August 5, 2005 Volume 12, Issue 29 - The Bonaire Reporter

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